Amtrak’s Springfield Line travels approximately 60 miles between New Haven, Connecticut and
Springfield, Massachusetts.
From New Haven, trains leave the Northeast Corridor, traveling mostly north along the
Quinnipiac River and through several cities before arriving into Connecticut’s capitol
of Hartford.
Continuing north, the route follows the Connecticut River, crossing over to the east bank just
after Windsor Locks, and then finally reaching Springfield, Massachusetts.
Originally constructed in the mid 1800s and later owned by the New Haven Railroad, the
route was sold to Amtrak by Conrail in 1976.
It is part of only 623 miles of track nationwide that are owned by Amtrak rather than one of
the major freight rail carriers.
Today, the Springfield Line plays host to three different Amtrak passenger train services
as well as Connecticut Southern Railroad freight trains and CT Rail Hartford Line Commuter
Trains, which are operated by the Connecticut Department of Transportation.
Amtrak’s services on the Springfield Line include the Vermonter, a once daily intercity
train that runs between Washington DC and St Albans, Vermont under train numbers 55
and 56 on weekdays and 57 and 54 on weekends.
The Vermonter uses the Northeast Corridor between Washington DC and New Haven and then
the Springfield line as far north as Springfield.
In addition to the Vermonter, Amtrak operates several daily Hartford Line “Shuttle Trains”
between New Haven and Springfield, with one trip, known as the Valley Flyer, extending
all the way to Greenfield, Massachusetts.
The shuttle trains are timed to coincide with Northeast Regionals on the Northeast Corridor.
Travelers from New York, Washington DC, and points south can get off their train in New
Haven for a cross platform transfer to a shuttle train that will allow them to reach destinations
on the Springfield Line.
Shuttle trains are numbered by placing a four in front of the last two digits of a corresponding
Northeast Regional.
One of the interesting things about the shuttle trains is that they utilize Amtrak’s Metroliner
cab cars so that trains can run in push-pull operations for a quick turnaround at either
end of the line.
These cab cars were originally built in the late 1960s as self propelled electrical multiple
unit cars for use on the Northeast corridor.
In addition to the shuttles, two Regional trains in each direction extend north from
New Haven on the Springfield Line to Springfield rather than continuing to Boston on the Northeast
Corridor.
P42DC diesel-electric locomotives carry these trains to and from New Haven, where they are
swapped for an ACS-64 electric unit.
This change over also happens for the Vermonter.
A 4th Amtrak service, the Boston bound section of Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited long distance
train, stops at Springfield, Massachusetts, making connections with Springfield line services.
With all these trains, the Springfield Line is definitely one of the busier portions of
the Amtrak system.
Let’s now travel to the Springfield Line to see some of these trains in action!
Hey, everyone!
Thanks for joining me for this look at the Springfield Line.
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Until next time, I’m Mike Armstrong.
I’ll see you down the line!
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